TriathlonWorld and Trikipedia follow triathlete Julia de Leeuw on her way to Ironman World Championship in KONA Hawaii.

I get to race at Kona in October! After my Ironman 70.3 in Maastricht, I was asked by Triathlonworld and Trikipedia to share my last weeks until Kona in a weekly report. Exciting, but super fun.

Actually, the road from Maastricht to Kona started much earlier. In 2017, I stood on the sidelines of an entire triathlon for the first time in Maastricht, cheering on my friend Bart. This was so cool! What a performance, what a distance, what an atmosphere, I want to do this too! And so a week later I was sitting on a terrace in the French Alps with my laptop on my lap, am I really going to do this? Click, paid, registered.

A year later I was also at the start in Maastricht and did my first full triathlon. Jitters before the start, just enjoying the rest of the day. Not for a moment did I think, why am I doing this? I liked it so much! During the race I already thought that I wanted to get better at this. I was actually first in my age group for a long time and almost won a Kona slot in my first entire triathlon. But luckily it hadn't worked out yet, because I didn't think I was ready for that yet. Crossing the finish line at the market in Maastricht, a big sweaty hug to Ruud, as happy as I was. From that moment on, the triathlon in Maastricht had a special place in my heart.

In April this year in South Africa (how cool to be able to do a triathlon there!) I managed to qualify for Kona Hawaii. Strangely enough, racing in Hawaii has never been my biggest goal. I just really enjoy the process of training for a race. Then, as the icing on the cake, do a fun race as best you can. This was a dream for my friend Bart and now we can go together. That is really unique. And I have to say, now that I'm actually going, my dreams increasingly take place on a sunny island...

But, 70.3 Maastricht 2022! So that race was August 6 and a test to see where I am now. After a period in which my coach Yvonne van Vlerken really had me to take a step back after South Africa (difficult when everyone starts with long rides and hard training!), I was allowed to get back to work from June. The shape did not disappoint! And with a nice ranking just behind toppers Marlene and Ilona, ​​I was really happy.

In the coming weeks more about my preparations on the way to KONA and race report of the European Championship Challenge Almere.

Greetings, Julia de Leeuw